Marine brown algae sourced feed additive said to offer promise for broiler productivity

Marine brown algae sourced feed additive said to offer promise for broiler productivity
May 4, 2015
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A study recently published in the journal of Poultry Science has found that supplementation of broiler chicken diets with purified polymannuronate (PM ) from brown marine algae stimulates the activity of beneficial cecal microbiota, resulting in increased production of lactic acid and volatile fatty acids (VFA). The researchers noted that PM has not previously been used in poultry diets, so their study was designed to explore its effects on chicken’s immune systems, antioxidant capacities, and performance.

Adding PM to the broiler chicken diets was also found to improve feed conversion and increases in daily weight gain in the chickens, compared with the control. Improvements in the daily feed intake went unchanged. Scientists also propose that low molecular weight alginates are potentailly useful prebiotics that could be added to chicken feed.

During the 42 day study, 540 one-year-old male chickens were divided into treatment groups and fed a corn and soybean based diet supplemented with various marine algae derived additives. A copy of the study abstract, which will be published in the March 2015 edition of the Journal of Poultry Science, is available here.